The Stars Come Out for Shakespeare in the Park

From left, Kevin Kline, Jonathan Groff, Martin Short, Anika Noni Rose and Glenn Close during the curtain call.CreditCreditTina Fineberg for The New York Times

By Bob Morris

June 12, 2013

The rain was so intense Monday that Shakespeare in the Park had to cancel its annual gala in Central Park, which included a $1,500 dinner for 950 on the untented lawn.

The reading of “The Pirates of Penzance,” which was part of the benefit, was moved to Tuesday at the Delacorte Theater. While there would be no dinner and no after-party, plenty of high rollers still showed up.

“It was the first time our gala got rained out in my nine years here,” said Oskar Eustis, the artistic director of the Public Theater, which runs the cherished free summer festival.

Backstage, about an hour before the rescheduled performance, the actors were dry and in good spirits. “The rain didn’t wipe us out entirely,” said Eric Idle, the “Monty Python” star. Nearby, Kevin Kline and Glenn Close worked on a scene. Did Mr. Idle mind all the trouble for a one-night performance? “No, because I’m of the age when it’s fine to do things just once,” he said. “And besides, it’s a great show for a very good cause.”

A sense of duty: it was both a theme of the comic operetta and of the evening itself. “I had to come do this,” said Martin Short, who flew in from Los Angeles for rehearsals last Thursday wearing a tuxedo after performing in an American Film Institute tribute to Mel Brooks. “You don’t want to say no when it’s for a benefit.”

The guests, including David Remnick, Ken Auletta, Nicholas Pileggi, Jesse Tyler Ferguson and Hamish Linklater, must have felt the same way as they skittered through the park under ominous skies and into a tented cocktail party, where instead of Danny Meyer’s catered dinner, they grabbed sandwiches, pizza, crab cakes, Pirate’s Booty and wine. (The unused dinner food was donated to a food bank.)

Meryl Streep, a longtime supporter, pushed through the crowd with photographers in close pursuit. She turned Mr. Eustis around for the cameras. “Let’s take the picture,” she said.

By the time cocktails ended and guests had taken ponchos (just in case) to their seats, the sky had cleared. Ms. Streep and others gave tributes to Nora Ephron, a devoted and longtime board member of the organization.

Then for an audience that included Steve Martin, Sting and Paul Shaffer, the rollicking show began, starring Mr. Kline, Ms. Close, Jonathan Groff and others. It included a weather song called “How Beautifully Blue the Sky.”

When it was over hours later, and a happy crowd had dispersed, Ms. Close got into the back of a golf cart at a stage door and was whisked away. Mr. Kline and Ms. Streep were whisked away, too. Fans yelled bravo to both and broke into cheers.

“Thanks so much!” yelled Mr. Kline, a tireless Shakespeare in the Park performer.

Moments later, Mr. Short was headed out of the park on foot. He would not be doing any more benefit shows this week. “I think that’s quite enough for now,” he said.

A version of this article appears in print on , on Page E11 of the New York edition with the headline: When the Clouds Clear, the Stars Come Out. Order Reprints | Today’s Paper | Subscribe